Jamia offers diploma course in disaster management

New Delhi, May 4: The Jamia Millia Islamia is starting a diploma course in disaster management from the current academic session 2015-16, the university said in a statement on Thursday.

This course on disaster management would be available to students from all streams of learning.

The university also proposes to develop a model corridor in the Himalayas where students will be given practical training on various natural disasters such as landslides, avalanches, cloud-bursts, floods, among others, that have become frequent and could be related to the climate change.

University vice chancellor Talat Ahmad, who himself is an eminent earth scientist, has suggested that a group of scientists should come together to study the affected areas in Nepal and its neighbouring regions in India to carry out scientific studies for developing future perspective plans.

Under the leadership of Ahmad, a group of earth scientists carried out extensive studies in the Western Himalayas following Kedarnath disaster in 2013.

This group will soon submit a detailed report to the central government based on multi-institutional joint effort of various universities and earth sciences research institutions of the country.

This study was conducted under the auspices of Map the Neighbourhood in Uttarakhand (MANU), and the department of science and technology of the government of India.

The vice chancellor has also requested the central government to initiate a scientific study of the devastating earthquake by a group of experts for which Jamia would offer its expertise to reorient India to matters related to natural disasters.